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Far Cry 3 is an open world first-person shooter developed and published by Ubisoft. The game will also feature role playing elements like skill trees and experience points. Far Cry 3 is a sequel to the 2008 game Far Cry 2, and while some elements from the second iteration will return in the third, there are also numerous things that will be new to the series. With Far Cry 3 releasing this Tuesday, this preview will tell you everything you need to know about the game, giving you all the information you need in order to make a decision about whether you want to spend your hard earned money on it.

Story

In Far Cry 3 you are put into the role of an everyman named Jason Brody. You and your friends decide to take a tropical vacation to the beautiful Rook Islands. However, shortly after getting there you and your friends are taken hostage by a group of pirates, led by a sadistic psychopath named Vaas. You eventually succeed in escaping, but the rest of your group, including your brother and your girlfriend, are still prisoners of Vaas and his pirates. The whole game revolves around you trying to survive the dangers of the island long enough to rescue your friends and your brother.

Ubisoft has made sure to get the point across that Jason is just a regular guy with no special combat training. They want the player to feel like everything that happens to Jason on the island is happening to you. Certain events and dialogue in the game will drive home the point that Jason is way over his head in the situation that he has found himself in. His determination to get his friends back is the only thing that Jason has to cling to as he faces the horrors of the tropical paradise that Ubisoft has created. The developers have also stated that Jason’s mindset and overall mental state will start to change throughout the course of the game. The more he kills and the more horrible things he endures, the more Jason will start to see things differently. Even his friends will begin to notice shifts in his personality as the game progresses.

Vaas may be the villainous face of Far Cry 3, but he is far from the only villain in the game. In fact, Vaas works for the man who is actually considered the main villain in the game, Hoyt Volker. Volker mainly deals in human trafficking and drugs, and he seems to be just as unstable as Vaas himself. Hoyt runs the South island while Vaas runs the North island, which effectively keeps the two violent psychopaths out of each others way.

In order to take down Vaas and rescue your friends you will need to seek out the help of Vaas’ much less insane sister, Citra. Citra is the leader of the Rakyat people, the natives of the Rook islands. She will help you throughout your journey in many different ways. Getting involved with the sister of a homicidal slave trader usually isn’t a good idea, but there is an exception to every rule. Now that we have covered a little of what the story will entail, lets move onto the gameplay that you will see in Far Cry 3.

Gameplay

The mixture of FPS and RPG elements in Far Cry 3 will make for some interesting gameplay when it releases this week. In the months leading up to release, Ubisoft has made sure to talk a lot about how much freedom players will have when playing the game. Different gameplay videos have shown the various methods that can be used when doing something like liberating an outpost. If you are looking to take a stealth route you might want to stick with melee weapons and guns with silencers equipped on them. Someone with a guns blazing mentality might be more comfortable with a machine gun that has an extended clip on it.

The weapon customization might not be as extensive as in games like Call of Duty or Battlefield, but you can still add things like silencers, extended clips, and various scopes onto your weapons. Want a reflex sight on your assault rifle? How about a silencer on your sniper rifle? Both are completely valid options.

When it comes to the RPG elements there are a few new additions that Far Cry 3 brings to the series. As the game goes on Jason’s tattoo will begin to take on a specific design according to the different abilities you choose for him. Two people can play through the game and end up having completely different tattoos for Jason. The design of your tattoo is heavily influenced by which one of the three skill trees you decide to put the majority of your points into. You of course don’t have to stick with any single skill tree, as the game lets you pick and choose which skills you want from which tree. The three skill trees are:

The Heron- Focuses on long range takedowns and mobility

The Spider- Focuses on stealth takedowns and survival

The Shark- Focuses on assault takedowns and healing

Ubisoft wanted to give players some things to do outside of story missions, so they included a handful of mini games and activities to keep the player busy. You can take part in poker games a la Red Dead Redemption, participate in knife throwing contests, and try your hand at extreme activities like skydiving and hang gliding. Ubisoft has also added collectibles for the player to hunt down, including drug recipes and relics.

The world of Far Cry 3 is pretty expansive, and just like Ubisoft’s flagship Assassin’s Creed series, the map wont be fully revealed at the beginning of the game. Far Cry 3 takes a page from the AC series when it comes to revealing pieces of the map. There are radio towers spread across the islands, and you will have to climb them and disable the transmitters in order to reveal the map section by section. When you are done doing that you will zip line down back to the ground instead of performing a leap of faith into a pile of hay.

Another cool thing about Far Cry 3 is that fire behaves realistically in the game. If you set fire to a field and there is a house nearby, a mild wind will make the fire spread to the house and the house will begin to burn inside and out. This is very important to remember when you are using things like molotov cocktails, as you will have a chance of getting caught in the blaze even if you aren’t in it to begin with.

Setting

Far Cry 3 takes place on the gorgeous Rook Islands. From afar it looks like the perfect destination for some R&R, it’s only once you actually get there that you realize the islands are infested with murderous pirates and mercernaries.

During your extended stay on the Rook Islands you will encounter various forms of wildlife. There are over 40 different animals that populate the world of Far Cry 3, from Tigers and Cheetahs to Komodo Dragons and Sharks. Unlike many other games, the animals in Far Cry 3 aren’t just there for show. If you get too close to a tiger while exploring the island or swim too close to a shark while swimming, those animals will attack you and you will have to kill them in order to escape with your life. After killing an animal you can skin it and sell the pelts and other parts for money. You can also use certain animal skins to make things like wallets and pouches that will help you carry more money and items.

Ubisoft also wanted to make the islands feel alive, so they added features to make sure they could achieve that immersion they were striving for. For example, animals wont just be standing around waiting for you to cross their paths. Instead they will go about their daily lives, so you will see them drinking, eating, and even hunting other animals so they can feed themselves and their families. The same goes for people, you will see them conversing with each other and occasionally engaged in combat with enemy groups.

Characters

Ever since Far Cry 3 started being shown heavily to the public, the developers have consistently talked about their dedication to making a memorable and fascinating cast of characters. Based off what we have seen of the game thus far, it seems like they have achieved that in spectacular fashion. Here are some of the characters you will encounter in Far Cry 3:

Bambi “Buck” Hughes- Buck is a former member of the Australian armed forces who was discharged by his superiors when they determined that he was a flat out sadist. Afterwards, Buck became a mercenary and eventually found his way into the employ of Hoyt Volker. From that point on he became Volker’s right hand and enforcer.

Citra Talugmai- Citra is the leader of the Rakyat tribe and also happens to be Vaas’ sister. She is an ally to your character and will help you throughout the game. Citra is mysterious and beautiful, much like the island itself.

Dennis Rogers- Dennis acts as your tour guide for the Rook Islands, teaching you what you need to know in order to survive. He was born in Liberia but fled in order to get away from war and poverty. He eventually found his way to the Rook Islands, where he joined Citra’s cause.

Dr. Alec Earnhardt- Dr. Earnhardt is just as crazy as Vaas, just in a different way. He seems to be an ally to Jason during his time on the islands, but he poses a danger of his own with his potent hallucinogenics and other hard drugs. He will make certain beneficial drugs for Jason, provided Jason first acquires the necessary ingredients to make them.

Hoyt Volker- Hoyt Volker is a sadistic and mentally unhinged sociopath who thinks nothing of killing countless people. He runs the South island and deals in slave trading. His private army ensures that he cannot be touched. He also serves as the main antagonist of Far Cry 3.

Vaas Montenegro- Vaas is the main villain of the North Island, and can arguably be considered the face of Far Cry 3 thus far, possibly even more so than the player character. Vaas is completely unstable and a homicidal psychopath. He is the reason your vacation turned into a nightmare, and he is determined to kill you and all of your friends. Also, he has apparently memorized the definition of insanity by heart.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer in Far Cry 3 is something the team at Ubisoft worked hard to make unique. The matches support up to 14 players, and there are going to be 10 maps available at launch. The multiplayer portion of the game also takes place on its own island, separate from the single player.

A huge focus is being put on teamwork in the multiplayer matches, making it necessary for players to really work together in order to be victorious. You can let out a Battlecry during a match, which will improve the stats of all teammates within a certain range for a limited time. Battlecries will increase the speed, health, or accuracy of you and your teammates. Another feature that is different from a lot of FPS games is the fact that any class can heal a downed teammate, so that ability is not restricted to just medics. One of the coolest looking features in the multiplayer is the ability to either humiliate or show mercy on the best player of the losing team after a match.

The multiplayer will also feature “Team Support Weapons” which are special weapons that can easily turn the tide of battle. Two of the revealed team support weapons are Barrel Bombs and Psyche Gas. Barrel Bombs are dropped from the sky and will incinerate your enemies. Psyche Gas on the other hand will disorient your enemies and mess with their sight so all players will appear as shadow-like figures, making friendly fire extremely likely.

Co-Op

Co-op in Far Cry 3 is for up to 4 players and can be played either split-screen or online. The co-op mode has a completely separate story from the single player and also takes place on its own island. The co-op campaign takes place a few months before the events of the single player campaign, and it will put you in the role of 4 survivors who are looking for revenge on a boat captain after he sold them into slavery. The four co-op character are Callum, Leonard, Tisha, and Mikhail. Each of the six co-op missions also features a competitive challenge so you can compete with your friend while helping them kill tons of people. The island that the co-op campaign takes place on is just as beautiful as the single player islands, but you wont have the same freedom to go wherever you want.

Map Editor

The map editor is a much beloved feature from Far Cry 2 that is making a return in this new installment. Although there are only 10 multiplayer maps, the ability for players to edit those maps means that there will undoubtedly be many more shortly after release. The map editor will let you select the time of day and even the desired weather for your customized map. There are also over 2,000 items that you can put into your map to really make it your own. Once you are done editing, you can upload your map for the rest of the online community to play. If your map reaches the gold tier status it will be displayed online next to the official Ubisoft content, which will increase the likelihood of it being played by as many people as possible.

Aside from the multiplayer side, the map editor can also be used to create custom single player maps. The single player map editor will allow you to add items, animals, vehicles, and even enemy A.I. to your creation. After completing your creation, you can then jump into the map and test it out. Unfortunately there is no word yet on whether you will be able to publish these online for others to try out. It seems like this would be a huge missed opportunity if Ubisoft didn’t include this feature, since it would essentially allow for the game to remain fresh for a lot longer.

Hopefully you are now much more knowledgeable on Far Cry 3, and maybe this preview even helped you make up your mind on whether you are going to take a chance on the game or not. If you want to see some more details on some of the things mentioned in this preview, click here. Far Cry 3 releases on the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC on December 4, 2012.

About the Author

I'm 23 years old and a lifelong gamer. My favorite genres are RPG's, Action/Adventure, Survival Horror, and 2D Platformers. I hate being made to pick my favorite game of all time, it's too hard. I'm also a huge movie buff and TV junkie. I also love skydiving... skydiving is awesome.